Wake Up Call

Friday, 20 January 2012

Would you look at that? That’s almost a year without an update. I have no reasons to give but that I have succumbed to my weakness of time management. O’ Allah, please guide this lost soul. TT_TT

Things have definitely changed. I might have lost my edge in writing. And reading even. However, these few weeks have taught me some valuable lessons. Lessons that made me strong(er). Lessons that made me want to change my way of thinking. Lessons that made me want to change my way of doing things. InshAllah, it’s for the betterment of da’wah and tarbiyyah.

After all, don’t all of us strive for what we truly believe in? As for me, Islam is the only belief worth striving for. And I’m going to stand firm with that. It’s time for change!

It should start from somewhere. And I believe writing is a good start for me. So that people will give you a smack in the head, if you don’t walk the talk. Please do! Every now and then, one needs a wake up call.

To start writing, you need guts. You need confidence. You need strength. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog, a V-log or picture blog. You don’t have to be scared of not being able to write a good inspirational post. You just need to express whatever you believe in. It’s the belief that matters. The words (or ideas or pictures) will follow.

Sunday, 8 May 2011

After a wild week of me turning cuckoo with exams and deadlines, and now the start of a new freaking demanding module, I think I need to stop just for a little bit and focus on the thing that I like the most, dakwah. It's not like I'm secularising studies from dakwah or anything. It's just that after a month of hardcore revision, I don't feel that I have contributed anything. It's me at the edge of futur-ing.

Come to think of it, I can't even recall a time when I was not in futur. Please help yourself- give me a hyper-mega slap in the face! -.- With the brothers and sisters in Palestine crying and resiliently endevouring the evil clutches of Zionists, what I was doing all this while is to 'sit back, relax and watch the show'. Shame on me.

Ok, enough of me ranting. Back to business. :D

Last Friday, I was on a hurry to go to class. Upon the arrival at Finsbury Park tube station, there was an announcement made from the control room. I couldn't care less of what it was all about and had my earphones plugged in anyway. So, I scooted to the Southbound Piccadilly Line platform.

A note - this is a direct train from Finsbury Park to my campus in South Kensington which takes about 45 minutes door-to-door per journey.

10 am is definitely a peak hour. A Piccadilly train was at the stop, with too many passengers. Not that I could not squeeze in. I just wanted to wait for the next train, for a free seat because there was not many people at the platform waiting. Yes, this is how it's like every day. It's worse if I have class at 9am because I have to be at the station by 8am. The horrible crowd. -.- You feel like a living canned sardine sometimes. So, I let the train off. Then, another announcement was made. Anticipating that it was important, I took off my earphones.

Piccadilly line train.

"There's no more trains at this platform due to Piccadilly line being partly suspended between Arnos Grove and King's Cross. If you wish to complete your journey, please proceed to the Victoria Line platform."

Saaayyy wwhhhaattt???!!

Just so you know, Finsbury Park lies between Arnos Grove and King's Cross.

Now, I fully understand the train analogy I learnt in usrah.

"Islam or His hidayah is like a train. If you wait and miss it, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to complete your journey. The next train might not just be there."

I guess that was how Zuljaushan ad-Dhabbabiy felt when he embraced Islam after Fath al-Makkah (the opening of Makkah). And this also reminded me of this verse from the Noble Quran:

"Recite unto them the tale of him to whom We gave Our revelations, but he sloughed them off, so Satan overtook him and he became of those who lead astray." Al-A'raf [7:175]

>.<

The moral of the story is don't wait. Do it now! Hidayah may come and go but sometimes they don't really come back. Kalau tak amik peluang, melepaslah. =p

Thursday, 28 April 2011

It's that time of year when exam is drawing near and you just got Uni offers. Yay! When the thing you should really be doing is to focus on studying, you need to apply for your accommodations. D'ohh..! And when it comes to Imperial College, you have lots to choose from. Which means, you need to do hall hunting on the website with the little time you got. No fear, I'm here to help you avoid the hassle of browsing through the website. And, yeah, I might be a little bit biased. :p

Of course, the criteria we look for are vital. In my case, these were the things I looked for in order of preferences :

1. Single!

2. Price range

3. Halal food!

4. Distance from campus

5. Personal fridge (you'll soon learn why :p)

First, there are the Eastside, Southside and the halls of Prince's Gardens:

All of these are on campus. If your class is at 9am, you can actually wake up 10 minutes before and still be in time for your lectures! All of them are en-suite rooms. The down part is the price. >190 per week. Of course you can opt for twin en-suite but you really don't want to take the risk of having inconsiderate roommates. Trust me, you don't. In any case, twins would cost you about 125 per week.

There's one more on campus: Beit.

Price range is from 105 to 190 per week. Quite a few choices to choose from : single (en-suite or standard) and twin (en-suite or standard). It's the latter that is cheaper. It's next to Royal Albert Hall, Royal College of Music and Student Union. So, it tends to get crowded and noisy, not really a good place to study. Of course, you can always go to the library. =D

Then there are the halls of Evelyn Gardens:

Fisher, Holbein, Willis Jackson, Bernard Sunley and Southwell.

It's one of the safest neighbourhoods in London. About 20 mins walk (London style, Malaysian style would probably take up to 30 mins) to campus. I don't think there's any en-suite available. So, there are only standard single, twins and triple O.O available. Price range 60~120 per week. A good choice but halal food is not that frequent here. So, if you're into cooking even if when you're too tired to do so, knock yourself out.

And then there are the others which I found less interesting (most probably because I have never been to these halls before.) One of them is not in walking distance by which I mean, it takes more than 40 minutes if you want to. And the price hovers around 120~180 per week for standard and en-suite singles. Please be aware that you'll need to spend on transport too. Not really a money-wise choice. But you can check them out: Parson, Pembridge** and Orient.

And last but not least, my hall: Wilson House!=)

Only single standard rooms are available here. 7 per bathroom and 15 per kitchen. Don't worry, they don't use the bathrooms early in the morning. Only Asians do!=p Some kitchens might be more spacious than others. Room sizes are not that bad, the smallest ones are in the basement and the larger ones are on the top floors. Price range is from 100~130 per week. Back then, it was 90~120 pw. You can choose to walk, across Hyde Park - around 30 mins to campus. It's really nice to have a morning stroll everyday. :) But you might want to use the bus/tube during winter. Should take you around 20 mins. We have Imperial Sports Centre at the back of the building too. Lots of halal food and meat around, and even better 5 Malaysian restaurants! Within walking distance. Satay house is just next door, literally! Owh and we're the only Imperial hall of residence with fridge in each room!=D The best part is, there's a mosque in the vicinity! Salahuddin Trust! A total WIN! :D just a block away!

Here's a sneak peek of my room in 2009/2010:

The study desk. The irony : possibly 50% my time in London was spent here doing a lot of other things but studying.

The fridge : don't you just love it when your snacks are just within reach. ;)

Wash basin. Yeap, winter mornings made easy. =p

And the rest of the room when I first arrived here.

So, yeah. I didn't lie about my being a bit biased. :p

After all the time that you have spent to read my rambling here, I think it would be proper to actually give a guide on which halls to choose. Considering all the criteria that I have brought forth earlier, I personally think that these halls should be your top choices :)

1. Wilson House : what more can I say? :p

2. Any single in Evelyn Gardens.

3. Weeks* : The price is actually cheaper than the other halls on campus. A bit tight on budget but still tolerable.

4. Pembridge** : I would consider this as well because it bears the postcode of W2, just like Wilson. So, you will be able to gain access to the things that I have described for Wilson.

That's all about it, I guess. You will need to come up with a list of 5, I think. And try to prioritise the criteria that you want and why you want them. They will come in handy during the application.=)

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

Firstly, it's not even a living creature as far as Biology concerns. It doesn't have 'the look'. What look? The look la. -.-

OK, I'm rambling, as always.

Anyhow, do you know that a mature virus particle is called a virion?

Urh, apologies for the digression. -.-" I think my quiescent alter ego is finally making its move.

Anyway....! What do you feel when you hear the word 'virus' itself? If you ask me, I feel that it carries a heck lot of bad and ugly connotations anyone could possibly imagine. Ewwww....... and it brings all those nasty diseases, not forgetting cancer!

So, why virus all of the sudden? It just came to me recently, about a book written by Abu 'Ashim Hisham entitled "Virus-virus Ukhuwah" . I mean, all this while I did not question on his diction on the title. Well, not until recently. And then as I was revising on Virology, I begin to fully comprehend his choice of words.

I'm not going to do a whole analysis on the book though. Just going to highlight a few which I find interesting.

"And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys." Luqman [31:19]

If a virus could talk, I seriously think it would be as hideous as a donkey. The way it dictates the host cell is just like a.. well, a dictator. If cells were able to fight back, they would do another revolution just like those of the middle East. Exaggerating, I know. But, you get what I mean. Call them viruses pushy because they are.

Viruses have a few modus operandi . The typical one is called lytic infection - this is the MO where they infect and kill the cells mercilessly. Another alternative is called lysogeny. This is a devious and sinister MO practised by the ever-so-popular HIV and of course, others as well. They will incorporate themselves innocuously with the host cells as a potential infecting agent without actually causing any infection and stays there quietly. Doing nothing till the right trigger comes -.-. Talk about sly. I'm just afraid that I might be one of the viruses in the lysogenic cycle. Nauzubillah.

Then there's another point which is to use others for you own benefit or in Malay which is menunggangi sahabat untuk objek dakwah. That sounds way better in English. If you don't know what it means, it's better to keep it that way. Trust me. This can be closely related to virus and its actions on the host cells - incorporating its viral DNA or RNA in the host and tricking them to replicate and produce their viral proteins. Hence, this strongly supports the title chosen by Abu 'Ashim Hisham.

Why did I choose the title for this post? Because when I read the book, a lot of the things said pinpointed back at me. >.< With no knowledge of the things I have been doing are just inappropriate, I have evolved into a virion.

Hey yo! I'm a virrr..er, virion! You have a problem with that?!

But, I'm glad that they are people around me who cares to give me a wake up call. Thank you Allah.